Saturday, 5 April 2014

most children sit outside at tables, benches or on the ground to eat the lunch they have brought from home.

That’s right a packed lunch is the norm here. We don't generally have cafeteria’s in schools! It’s a rarity.

Now this poses the problem of where to eat and how to keep an area tidy.

Finally I have found something that works!

It’s the Lunch Mat Trolley!

We simply bought online these lovely camp mats. One of our clever High School Staff worked out the design when told what we wanted. Another beautiful staff member spray-painted them to coordinate with our renovated Kindergarten rooms, castors were added for manoeuvrability and voila. There you have it TheLunch Mat Trolley!

How do we use them you ask? Read on…

Daily monitors pop outside just prior to lunchbreak and spread these beautiful brightly coloured mats about on the ground. The Little Learners simply get their lunch from their bags and plant themselves on a mat. They eat their lunches and return the mats to their class trolley when finished.

No more sitting on concrete. No more dirty outside tables to lean on. No more scattered chairs after every lunch break.

It Works a Treat

Our beautiful Kindergarten teachers introduced them as something really special that no other class had and ran through rules for using them. Much like anchor charts with Daily 5. Funny thing was that it has worked so well that each day after lunch we keep finding that the Little Learners have not only returned their mats to their trolley but they have grouped them in colours within the trolley.

Isn't it amazing how different things can be for each of us. I just assumed you got your lunch from the cafeteria then chose either inside or outside to eat it. I never really thought about it being too cold. We eat outside everyday. Perhaps there might be a few days that are a bit rainy so we choose to open our classrooms during lunchtime to let the Little Learners eat and play inside but it's our choice. There are enough verandah areas to hong out on during the lunch break. :-)

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About Me

Julie Stowe

I am a Christian, a wife and the mother of 2 fantastic teenagers. I work at an Australian Christian school. I have been a Christian for about 35 years, a wife for 25 years, a mum for 19 years and a teacher since 1989.